Two Demons
by KyokoRenea
Summary: Yuma Nikki, a beautiful purple eye blacksmith who lives a double life. Who knew fixing a certain sword for a certain swordsman, could fix Nikki's life for better or for worst. Can two people known as demons find love within eachother? Zoro x Oc
1. Chapter 1

Kyoko: Hello! SO here is a new story! Don't worry I'm still writing Time Lap and A New Beginning. But this story has been begging new to write it. This obviously takes place before my other two stories take place.

I think I finally found a story for my two original characters that I created about 5 years ago, I've been kinda story hopping them. I've changed a few things about them, but they're mostly the same when I first created them.

I'm going to be trying something different by not telling what PoV the story is in. You'll have to figure it out when you read it. But the page breaks (or lines) are all starts of different PoVs and that is how you can tell if it is a different PoV

Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece. I only own the plot, and any other character that doesn't belong to Oda

***NOV 18, 2013***

Revised

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><p>A strong wind blew across the Thousand Sunny as it rocked back and forth on the calm waters of the New World. The crew was making their way to their third island in the New World.<p>

I leaned up against the mast. With my swords propped against my right side. I glanced around the deck; it was quite, for the ship. Everyone wasn't up to full pace since the huge party we threw the night before. Most of the crew was suffering from a slight hangover from the amount of alcohol we ended up consuming. Of course this happens every time we got a new nakama. Except for the damn cook he was in the kitchen already making breakfast for everyone.

I heard a light tapping sound; it was soon followed by the sound of a door opening. I didn't recognized the footsteps, they were new to my ears…. mostly. I turn my head to the left and look at the person who just walked out on deck.

It was our new nakama, Kairri. Kairri's single emerald green eye lands on me and smiles softly. She walks towards me and stops short. I turn my head back to look straight ahead and not at her with my only good eye.

"Seems like we're the only ones with enough strength to get out of bed today?" Kairri's soft, but knowing voice stats as she stands near me.

I grunt in response and I pull out my sword polish and cleaning supplies. I grab Shuusui and unsheathe the tamer of the two curse swords I own.

"It happens almost every time when we get a new nakama. The others will drag themselves out of bed shortly, it still pretty early in the morning." I say as I clean my sword. I hear Karri sit down on my left side near me. I never took my eyes off my sword as she did what she wanted.

"Sorry about Kitetsu." Kairri say softly.

I pause for a moment and move my head to the left to glance at her. Kairri wasn't looking at me, but at the sword in question. Kairri's face was unreadable.

Bandages were wrapped around her right eye, curtsey of Chopper. During our last fight, Kairri ended up losing her protective eye patch.

"Not your fault, I've always been rough on my swords and Kitetsu broke because of it. I just need to find a blacksmith that can fix it." I say turning back to my task at hand.

"Isn't that were the problem lies? Kitetsu will kill anyone who tries?" Kairri asks.

_She's right…_

"Tsk, that may be true but I don't want to go through the process of finding a new sword." I say.

I swear I could hear her smile.

"Don't worry, even though my island didn't have any blacksmiths the next island does. But I recommend going to 'Yuma Weapons' the blacksmith that owns the store is said to be the best." Kairri says as she starts to stand up again.

I glance at her.

"How would you know if they're the best?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. She smiles at me and stretches a bit.

"Many people who buy a weapon from Yuma-san say they can't use any other weapon. Yuma-san specialized in making many different weapons but prefers to make swords, but also repairs weapons, and it doesn't matter if they're cursed or not. Plus I need to see Yuma-san anyway since I need a new eye patch for my cursed eye." Kairri explains.

I sheathe Shuusui and place it back at my side. I sigh and stand up and stretch.

"I'll go and see this Yuma person, but I may or may not allow the blacksmith to touch Kitetsu" I say as I place my swords in my sash.

* * *

><p>I walk away from the swordsman and make my way back to the girl's quarters. I had yet to unpack my belongings. I walk into the room and notice that Robin was up.<p>

"Morning Robin," I say as I walk over to my things. I open up my bag and started to sort through my belongings. I heard the shifting of covers and I look over my shoulder. I watch as Nami sits up. I smile at her and turn back to my task. I open the dresser that Nami told me was mine now, and started to place my cloths inside of it.

"Morning…Robin…Kairri." Nami said in a slight groggy voice. I pause in my work for a second to look at the carrot top. "Morning, Nami, sleep well?" I ask, and then I went back to what I was doing.

"Yeah," I heard Nami stretch and the sound of the bed decompressing from the weight being lifted off of it followed. Nami walked over to where I was and opened up the dresser that belonged to her. I closed my dresser and pulled out a roll of bandages and a small sheet of steel from the bottom of the bag that I brought.

"Robin, can I use the vanity, for a minute? I need to replace the bandages covering my eye." I ask the cool beauty, who was currently sitting in front of the vanity. Robin stands up, so I had a clear access to the vanity mirror.

"Would you like some help, Kairri-san?" Robin asks smoothly.

I smile at her, "Yes, thanks you." I say as I move to the vanity seat. I sit down and Robin comes over and helps me untie the bandages around my head. I move my head over my right eye and cover it. Robin pulls the already tattered and beyond use bandages away from my eye along with the mostly disintegrated steel plate.

"That eye must be a pain in the ass?" Nami asks as she comes up and grabs her hairbrush from the vanity.

"I've gotten use to it over the years. It only sucks when I don't have my eye patch to cover it." I say as I move my hand from my eye to let Robin wrap some of the fresh bandages around my head. Once she wrapped the bandages around my eye three more times I grabbed the steel plate and positioned it and held it in place until Robin got the bandages to hold it in place.

When Robin was finished she tied it off for me. "Thanks Robin." I say again to her and stand up. We hear Sanji's voice over the loudspeaker saying breakfast is ready.

"Your welcome Kairri." Robin says and we make our way to the kitchen on the other side of the ship. We walk into the kitchen/dinning hall. "Morning." I say to everyone who I haven't said morning to already.

Everyone was already there, waiting for Sanji to serve them food. But from what I've learned in the short time that I've been with the crew was: Sanji never served food unless the girls were there.

I found an open seat and sat down.

"Morning Kairri, Robin, Nami." Were the replies from the crew before Sanji served the food. There wasn't much conversation while we were eating; we were fighting to keep our food from a certain someone.

"So how long until we reach the next island Kairri?" Nami asks as she looked at her log post. I put my cup down and looked at her.

"It will take another three to four days to reach the next island." I say, smiling at her.

"What do you know about the island Kairri?" Ussop asks, looking at me. I put a finger on my chin and thought.

_What should I tell them about the island?_

"Hmm…well for starters the island is called Shadow Isle, there is only one town on the entire island and that the island is sort of dangerous." I say not really concerned.

"Sort of dangerous? There is no such thing as sort of dangerous. Its either dangerous or its not so which is it?" Ussop asks freaking out. I've notice that he does that a lot.

**Sigh**

"I say sort of dangerous because as long as you keep your guard up while walking around the island at night you might still be alive in the morning." I say looking at him dead in the eyes.

"Do we really have to go to that island?" Ussop asks looking at Luffy.

"There's nothing we can do to change Luffy's mind." Nami says to Ussop already accepting defeat with Luffy.

**~Two days later~**

We were about a day and a half from Shadow Isle, the waters around us were starting to get slightly calmer and the weather was starting to become more of a summer-Autumn climate. I was sitting in a lawn chair eyes closed soaking up the sun with Nami and Robin.

Then I heard my little wrist watch make a noise.

I crack open one eye and looked at my 'watch' ok so it isn't a watch, it's a little black transponder snail. I use for wire-tapping mainly on marines.

I started to reach over and grab, but Robin beat me to it by using one of her hands to toss it over to me.

I open the watch up and allowed the little snail to poke its little head out. From the corner of my eye I notice that both Nami and Robin were watching the little snail with interest. Any information is better than none.

The little snail opened its mouth and started to intercept the transmission.

"_**Sir, I have some good news."**_Came a male voice. The man could be talking to his captain but it was hard to tell if it was a pirate captain or a Marine captain.

"_**What's the good news, Captain?"**_Another male voice came through the snail. Just from this sentience I was able to determine that this was a Marine transmission.

"_**We were able to make contact with the Demon Assassin on Shadow Isle." **_The Captain said and I was able to pick up an edge in his tone of voice. This transmission also got my full attention as well. Since our next destination was Shadow Isle. And I know of the Demon Assassin.

"_**I hear a edge in her you're voice Captain. What's the matter now?" **_The higher-ranking officer asked his Captain. So I wasn't the only one know notice the edge to the man's voice. The Captain must be new to the second half of the Grandline.

"_**There is a problem, Sir. You see the Demon Assassin, said that she'll 'think' about it."**_ There was a slight shudder in the Captains voice. I had a feeling I knew what caused the shudder. The Demon Assassin had a pretty intimidating figure.

"_**What do you mean she'll think about it? It's a simple assignment to assassinate the Strawhats!"**_ The unnamed Marine yelled at him. It was clear that the higher ranked officer had no patience for his Captain. But now I knew who the target was.

"_**Well you see she wanted to know who the client was and why we were playing the messenger for the client. When I told her that is was classified…she…"**_ The Captain gulped as he remembered the encounter _**"…she glared at me with those scary cat-like eyes and said she'll think about it. And proceeded to mention about doing research." **_There was a pause.

"_**I told her that the Strawhats were on there way here. She said that was fine, it takes a month for the log post to reset itself. That was more than enough time for her to complete the assignment…if she decided to accept the job that is. And told me that she would have her answer in a week. Then she vanished…Sir…into thin air." **_ You could still hear the shudder in the Captain's voice.

You could hear a sigh before the other Marine spoke. _**"It can't be helped. We've got to go with it. We've lost more than a few good solders to her before. As long as she doesn't find out the clients are the Celestial Dragons we're in the clear. The Demon Assassin never accepts an assignment from a Celestial Dragon, so she MUST never know who the client is."**_ The Marine said before the transmission was cut off. The little snail stopped talking and went back inside the little watch.

The conversation that the snail picked up sunk into the three of us. Both Nami and Robin looked at each other and looked at me. Since I was a spy and an information broker that knew I would know something about this.

"Demon Assassin?" Nami questions.

"Seems like the Celestial Dragons are still mad about what happened on Sabaody Archipelago two years ago. And now they are getting their revenge against us." Robin says in her morbid fashion.

I personally didn't acknowledge the two women. This transmission was surprising very informative and I was already deciphering all the information. This information will be key to a lot of things.

One I know the Demon Assassin. I've worked with the women for years. She has often times come to me for information on her jobs. Hiring me to look into clients and targets alike when she couldn't dig up any benifial to her. But I also know the women on a personal level. I can call the women a friend.

Knowing this I still couldn't help the hollow pit in my stomach.

"This isn't good…" Was all I could say to the others for now.

_Nikki…please…don't decide anything yet…let me tell you what I know…._


	2. Chapter 2

**Kyoko: **Well here is chapter 2 of Two Demons

Oda owns One Piece I don't and I'm glad I don't since the story wouldn't be as epic if it was in my hands

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><p>I walked home with the darkness of night surrounding me. There was a slight wind making the night chillier than it actually is, but I didn't mind. My head was pounding from the headache that I had.<p>

"Stupid Marines...Stupid assignment...stupid client..." I grumbled to myself rubbing the part of my head that was pounding. I kept looking forward but I kept my guard up. Walking home was never safe, it didn't matter if it was the middle of the day or the dead of night. Of course it didn't help much that I lived in the middle of an assassin filled forest, with paid blood thirsty professional killers.

I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder at the shadows behind me.

"Don't even think about it. I'm not in the mood to play, today..." I say to the person who was behind me.

A figure emerged from the shadows and stopped a few paces away from moonlight casted what a normal person think a pretty glow on the person, but to me I saw it as an evil glow on the person. I was able to see the sadistic smirk of a killer on his face. It made my stomach turn. To top it off the glint in his eye didn't help him in the friendly department, since it was a killing glint in his eye.

I gave the man my best glare, that I could while looking over my shoulder. I had a feeling what this little Imp wanted and it didn't sit well with my turning stomach.

"Aww, the demon kitty doesn't want to sharpen her claws tonight?" the figure said in a taunting voice as he took another step towards me.

_What's with all the cat references to me?_

I turned around so my back wasn't facing my enemy. Now I was able to give the little Imp my best glare. I placed my left and on my three blades that I carried. If anyone saw me they probably thought I was a santoryu user like the Pirate Hunter Zoro, but I'm not. I still don't understand how someone can use three blades at once. It was one of those things that I got to see to believe. No, one of my three blades is a reverse blade. Its my backup blade, when I don't feel like killing someone. I can use it to knock the person out or servery wound my target. My other two blades are cursed blades that I can only use together, if not they would kill the owner.

I tense up a bit when the Imp took another step closer towards me. A little growl escaped my lips when he took yet another step towards me. Now we where both in striking distance from each other. His hand was on the little Kodachi sword that he carried. I slightly tightened my grip on one of my katana handles. I was anticipating his move, to strike me, and I'm sure he was doing the same with me. The corner of my mouth tilted up a bit.

"This kitty doesn't like sharpening her claws on worthless fools who think they are superior to others." I say with a little bit of venom in my voice. The little flick of fear in the Imp's eyes was enough to make me smirk through my mask. He may not be able to see it but it was there.

Just as soon as the flicker of fear appeared in his eye it disappeared and the sadistic smile on his face turned to one of anger, and the killing glint in his eye turned to a glint of rage.

"I don't see what makes a little girl like you so dangerous. Sure there are a lot of assassins that are females but why is it that a girl has the title of best? On top of that is barely taking on the minimum amount of assignments that is required of an assassin in one year!" The Imp raised his voice at me and the grip on his weapon tightened even more.

I sighed.

"I don't know, but I have more important things to do with my time then spend them taking on all the assignments that I could. Now if you don't mind, I would like to leave and get some work done. Killing hour is approaching and I prefer to be at home when it starts. And don't be dissing females, we can be as strong as guys if not stronger than guys. But I really don't consider you a guy, your a little imp to me, and not worth my time." I say firmly taking a step back so I wasn't so close to striking distance. I had a feeling that he was going to attack from my words.

The Imp lunged at me and I pulled my two cursed blades from their sheaths and blocked his weapon.

"Women can't be stronger than men, they aren't built to be stronger. Let alone to have the title of 'the best assassin', that should only belong to a man." the Imp said through clenched teeth. I didn't give him a reply to his words. I was use to them. It was either a would be suitor or a jealous assassin that would try an attack me.

We tested each others strength then we changed tactics on one another. The little imp surprised me by his speed and I barely manage to dodge a fatal injury to my stomach, but came out with just a nice deep cut to my right side my my gut. Blood was seeping through the wound and staining my shirt.

_Tst...he's faster than he looks..._

I recovered from his blow and turned to face him again.

"Your not that special _Demon Assassin_, if you got a little cut like that one." The Imp mocked at me. The sadistic look returning to his eyes and his smile.

"You can't get stronger without getting hurt every once in awhile. That is what makes you and me different. I learn from my injuries and improve my skills while you, don't. You probably never faced someone like me before and just because I'm a _woman_ that is what makes me such an easy target in your eyes. This little injury to my gut won't hinder me." I say as I took my turn to attack him. I came at him with both my cursed blades in hand. I brought one down on him, which he blocked with his kodachi. But he left himself wide open for my other blade, which I sliced him through his abdomen with a clean deep cut, that I knew would kill him. I moved away from him and watched as he fell to the ground. I looked down at him, with a stratified smirk on my face.

He coughed up blood and looked up at me. "Bitch..." the Imp said with blood running down his mouth. "Go to hell." was his final words before he died.

The smirk on my face disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

"I'm already in hell, bastard. I'm trying to escape from it now." I say sheathing my katanas. I turn around from the body and continued on my way home. The pounding of my head coming back, but stronger than it did before the imp came along, thanks to the lose of blood from my lovely wound.

"Stupid headache...stupid flesh wound..." I say holding my side.

* * *

><p>I walked through the door of my house and close it behind me. I lean up against the door, breathing heavy. The blood loss was getting to me. I push off the door after a minute and turned on lights as I walked through my house. I stepped to the side to dodge a knife that was aimed at my head. I didn't pay the attempt on my life a threat. I just turned on the light to my living room.<p>

"Ok you brat come out of hiding. I will admit your getting better at throwing the damn thing but please be a little less predictable next time." I say as I watch a little body pop out from behind my couch, pouting. I pull my mask that was covering everything but my eyes off from around my face. Then I pulled my hood down using my non bloody hand. I lazily smile at the pouting girl before me.

"Aww Nikki...If I try anywhere else, I run the chance of breaking something in your house." The little girl said looking up at me with her innocent blue eyes. Her dark hair was down from the usual high ponytail. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes, covering them slightly.

"It looks like we have to cut your bangs, so you can see again, Tsubaki." I say pulling my bloody glove covered hand away from my wound to pull my now blood cover kimono type shirt off.

"I can see just fine! Oh Nikki your wounded! I'll get the first aid kit!" Tsubaki says as she runs out of the room to grab the medical kit. I pull my three swords off my belt and place them down on the table. Then I pulled my dark purple kimono shirt off, so now I was just in my black tank top.

I pull off my black gloves and throw them on the ground with my assassin shirt. They needed to be wash anyway. I pull the bandana off of my head and throw it down with my other discarded cloths.

"Here Nikki," Tsubaki says as she enters the living room carrying the first aid kit and a bowl of warm water. I listen as Tsubaki places them down on my coffee table.

I lift up my shirt enough to look at the wound and growl.

_Great...I might need to go and see a doctor for this one..._

"That doesn't look that bad..." Tsubaki says as she hands me a wet towel. I take it and whip the wound from any blood.

"Your wrong, I might have to see the damn doctor tomorrow, since it's a deep cut. It might get infected, and an infected wound is never good." I say as I place disinfectant ointment on the wound. Tsubaki hands me some bandages and I wrap the wound. I tie the bandages and place the rest away in the first aid kit.

I plop down on my couch and place my head in my hands.

"Need me to get ya anything Nikki?" Tsubaki asks me. I glance at her, and smile.

"Nah, I'll get it. Shouldn't you be in bed? Don't you have class in the morning, at the academy?" I ask her. Tsubaki is an assassin in training, and she was a brat. Tsubaki was eight years old and she was training not only to be a professional assassin but when she graduated the academy of cold blooded killers as I like to call the damn school. She had to have a day job, one that wouldn't make her seem suspicious of being an assassin. So how she came to the decision that being a blacksmith would be a fun day job I would never know.

Tsubaki stuck out her tongue at me. "Pleh...Nikki's getting old...she's losing track of time. She forgot that it's friday, I'm done with school until monday." Tsubaki teases as she takes the bowl of bloody water away. I frown at the girl but laugh.

"Hey! I'm not old! I'm only twenty-one! Plus it's been a long day! You would be forgetful too if you've only had about five hours of sleep within the past three days." I call in my defense to the girl. I hear the facet run for a few seconds and the sound of Tsubaki's footsteps.

Tsubaki returns to the living room this time carrying a glass of water and a pill bottle. She had a smile on her face.

"Hehe...I know, I'm just giving you a hard time, that's all. And here, you have a headache right?" Tsubaki asks as she hands me the glass of water.

I smile at the girl. I take the aspirin and drink the water.

"You know I'm the one who's suppose to take care of you, not the other way around, ya brat." I comment, placing the cup down on the coffee table.

Tsubaki takes a seat next to me on the couch and smiles at me. I smile back at her.

"I know, but I can help you out when I can. After all you're my teacher in the fine art of blacksmithing." Tsubaki says.

I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the fire from my kiln for a few minutes.

"Yeah, I know. I'm the only blacksmith in the assassin guild to teach you. I still haven't figured out why you want to be a blacksmith as your day job though? The training to be a blacksmith is just as hard as it is to be an assassin." I say staring up at the ceiling.

"I know," Tsubaki says quietly. I open my eyes at glance down at her. She was looking down at the floor. I close my eyes again.

_**Sigh**_

There was silence again, between us. I glance at my clock.

_Fifteen minutes to killing hour..._

"Tsubaki, mind helping me lock up?" I ask as I stand up. I stretch my muscles and yawn in the process.

Tsubaki stands up. "Sure, need to lock up?" She asks, I nod my head as a reply. Tsubaki started to take care of locking the windows in the living room.

I bend down and pick up my dirty cloths and walk out of the living room. I walk down the hallway towards my room. I throw the cloths into the hamper so I could wash them later. I walked over towards my window and lock it up. Then I went to help with the rest of the house.

When I was done I walked back into the living room where I found Tsubaki siting on the couch, waiting for me.

"All locked up?" I ask her. Tsubaki nodded her head yes towards me.

"Yep, so what did the Marines want with the Demon Assassin?" Tsubaki asked with innocent curiosity.

_Sigh..._

"They had an assignment for me. Well they want me to take the assignment anyway. I'm not sure I want to take the mission though, something about it doesn't sit well with me." I say pulling the stack of folded papers from my back pocket.

I unfold the stack of papers and look at them. I felt Tsubaki slide next to me to look at the parchments with me.

I small whistle came from Tsubaki. "Wow that's some big game they want you to take." She says shortly after. "Is it just him?" She asks looking up at me.

I look down at her. "No, they want me to kill all of them." I say while slowly looking through the stack of bounty posters.

"Why don't you want to take the mission? It would be your biggest success since you became the youngest assassin." Tsubaki asks reaching for the papers. I hand them to her. I looked up at the ceiling again.

"The Marines didn't hire me to kill them, they are just playing the part of messenger. They wouldn't tell me who the real client is. But they are willing to be paying more than all their..." I point at the stack of papers in her hand, " bounties combined which if you total up is worth more than 800,000,050 beli. And they're willing to pay me more than that to see them dead." I say crossing my arms.

Tsubaki looked up at me. "If you accept you would have more than enough money to leave this island for good." Tsubaki says. I caught the hint of sadness in her voice.

I yawn and pat her head. "That is true but I've never took on a mission for the money. I took on missions that would test my skills and help me improve on them. But I've always done my research on my target. I told them I'll give them their answer in a weeks time. They are coming in from Karri's island and that is at least a four day trip between the two islands. But the log takes a month to reset itself so, even if I don't decide within a week I would still have enough time to finish the mission." I say, as I got up from the couch.

I yawn again, but this time Tsubaki followed my lead and yawned herself. I grin down at her.

"I think we should go to bed now, it's past one in the morning. And we have to be up to get to the shop on time." I say walking towards our bedrooms. We turned off lights as we went.

* * *

><p>I put down my weights and wiped my face off from sweat. I walked over to the window and looked out the window at the surrounding ocean. The dark image of an island was on the horizon and it didn't seem like it was getting any closer.<p>

I popped my neck before going back to lifting weights. I picked up some dumbbells and started some reps.

_Demon Assassin huh?_

The girls told us yesterday what they heard over the transponder snail. Karri then proceeded to tell us more about Shadow Isles. Turns out the island is infested with assassins that only come out at night and that there is rumor that a school to train assassins was on the island. Karri said she couldn't confirm it.

I felt the ship stop moving again, and it was followed my Nami's frustrated screech. I heard Nami yell something about not getting there until nightfall if the wind didn't pick up and have a steady current.

**~hours later~**

We docked the ship in the harbor. The sun was about and hour from setting and we had finally manage to reach Shadow Isles. We walked away from the Thousand Sunny.

"Wow it took us forever to get here." Ussop says adjusting his hat on his head.

"I would be on guard, you'll never know when you'll get attacked on this island." Karri says as she comes up towards us.

"Food!" Luffy shouted out of nowhere. This caused us all to laugh.

"Don't you think of anything, other than your stomach?" Nami asked Luffy while laughing.

We decided that we would get a bite to eat then head back to the ship for the night. But Nami prompted me to be on night watch, from any assassins.

_Great..._

Karri led the way to the nearest bar. We found an empty booth and we all took a seat. The waitress came up and asked us what we wanted and took our orders. I drowned out the conversations that the crew started. I looked around the bar, if assassins were on this island then they could be anyone. The waitress came back and handed us our food.

It was dark by the time we finished our dinner, and making our way back to the ship. We were walking down dimly lit street back towards the harbors when we notice shadows up ahead.

We notice that the shadows belonged to people. As we got closer we were able to determine that one belonged of the shadows belonged to a male. The male seemed to be staring down the other shadow that was with him. Judging by the shape of the other shadow, it looked like it belonged to a female.

We walked closer to the pair. I placed my right hand on my swords. I didn't like the feeling I was getting from the two in front of me. The male notice us and a dark look came upon his face but his attention went straight back to the female in front of him.

"Move, before I make you." The male growled at the girl. The girl casually rolled her shoulder at the man.

"Make me," The girl said in a bored but yet taunting tone. The girl looked completely relaxed while the male looked about to explode as we got even closer to the pair.

"Move, bitch! I have some pray to kill!" The man growled yet again. He never took his eyes off the female.

Luffy stopped walking and we all soon followed him. I fell into place on Luffy's right side.

"Why doesn't he walk past her? There is more than enough room for them to pass without touching." Ussop whispers, afraid to bring attention to them.

"He can't unless he wants to get killed." Karri says from behind me. "What do you mean Karri?" Nami asks quietly. I glance at both of them and look over my shoulder at Karri.

"They're both assassins right?" I ask over my shoulder to her. I see Karri nod her head at me. I turn my attention back to the pair.

"So if we walk past them we might end up dead?" Ussop asks. "More and likely, they are both professional killers." Karri replies.

I watch as the male starts walking towards the female slowly.

"I wouldn't think about it, if I were you. I would turn around and head back home." The female said with a challenging tone to her voice.

"And what would you do if I didn't, huh?" The man said as he continued on his way towards us. There was a growl and followed by the raising her arm, making it seem like she was telling him not to pass.

"Stop you, like all the others. This little 'game' you guys play is disgusting and down right despicable. What right do you have to kill this islands visitors?" The female questioned.

The man stopped walking and looked at the female. "What right don't we have to? What are you saying that killing innocent bystanders is dishonorable? When you know full well that our profession is all about killing innocent bystanders?" The man replied by throwing his own questions at the female.

I then notice that the female was carrying three blades on her. _Santoryu user?_

"I know full well what our profession is about. But there is a difference from work and this game you and so many others play. We're actually paid to kill and I'm not saying being paid to kill is honorable, but it's a hell a lot more honorable then taking some random life that just stopped on this island to restock their supplies and leave. Plus what right do you have to take away everyone's business that isn't part of the guild?" The female said slightly turning to face the male who was standing beside her now, but the male was facing us.

"The game is simply a way to quench our thirst for blood when we don't have any jobs to complete. I'm _sure_ you can understand that right...?" The male said in a sick tone.

The next thing we saw was the male was down on his knees with his arms behind his back and a blade at his neck, curtsey of the female. Now that the female was facing us, I was able to see her better.

The female was dressed in a dark purple long sleeved kimono type shirt, black leather gloves, with black slacks and black boots. Around her waist were three katana swords. I couldn't distinguish a difference between the three blades. The only thing I could see on her face were her eyes. They were deep purple cat-like eye. She had a mask that covered her face from the nose down and a hood that covered the rest of her head.

I heard a gasp behind me. "Cat-like eyes..." Nami whispered. I looked at the female she was glaring at the man underneath her.

"I told you not to try. At least have the honor and not contribute to the lack of trade economy of this island. This game is making the economy of this island suffer." The female said bringing the blade closer to the mans neck.

"Tsk...you don't have the same thirst for blood like the rest of us Demon...your soft when it comes to killing. Why else would you spend most of your free time trying to stop us. Isn't the New World the survival of the fittest?" The man asks even though there was a blade against his neck.

There was a glint in Demon's eye that wasn't there before. Before there was just a look of boredom now there seemed to be a look of amusement in them.

"I've stained my hands with enough blood that I don't need to stain my hands with worthless killing without a reason to. And if this world was survival of the fittest, then would it be called survival if I kill you now? Or I let you live to survive another day? But it won't mean that you'll live another day if you think attacking the pirates over there. They're more than a match for you and frankly I'm sure you know that as well." Demon said smoothly, then she pulled the blade away from the mans neck and stood up from her sitting position on his back. The man got up and glared at the female.

"Get the hell out of here. I would just laugh if you attacked them now and fail at killing them." Demon said placing her hand on her swords.

"Tsk...it wouldn't be much fun killing them anyway. Next time you won't be able to stop me Demon." The man says before disappearing from sight. Demon looked at us with her cat eyes.

"You can pass, I won't attack you." Demon says, but her hand was still on her swords.

"How do we know you won't attack us if we do?" Nami asks.

"She won't," Karri speaks up, we all slightly turn to her, we still kept Demon in our sights. "That isn't how the Demon Assassin is. She's true to her words." Karri finishes saying.

We all turn our full attention to Demon Assassin or Demon what ever we wanted to call her.

"So she is the one that is hired to kill us? And she's letting us pass?" Franky asks.

There came a growl from Demon.

"Hey! If I haven't accepted a assignment yet... the targets are clear for all I care. I'm not even sure if I'm going to accept the assignment yet. I have until the end of the week to decide. But that doesn't mean others won't try and kill you. At least they have enough honor not to attack people while they are in buildings. Only when they walk around at night on the streets." Demon says then a yawn escaped her.

"Let's go, I trust her." Luffy says as he starts walking towards Demon and we shortly follow him. I tighten my grip on Wado we walk straight past her. Demon kept her word on not attacking us. I glance over my shoulder and notice that Demon was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>kyoko:<strong> well what do you think? R&R


	3. Chapter 3

**Kyoko**: I don't own One Piece Oda does

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><p>I sat up on my bed, sweat was pouring down my skin and my breathing was heavy.<p>

"Gah!" I groan as I hold my head in my hands. I was sweating so much my clothes stuck to my skin.

_Why do I still have that nightmare?_

I throw my blanket off my body and crawl out of bed. I walk out of my room and down the hall to the bathroom. I grab a towel from the cabinet by the bathroom door and walk into the bathroom.

I turn on the shower and let the water run for a bit. I waited for it to get hot. When I entered the shower the water was hot, really hot, but I didn't care, it felt good on my skin. I let the water pelt my face for a bit, hoping that the hot water would wash away the nightmare but pieces of it still flashed in my mind. I stayed like this for a few minutes.

I reached for my shampoo after it seemed the water wasn't helping. I grabbed the bottle of vanilla scented shampoo, and started to wash my long dirty blonde hair. I rinse all the soap out of my hair and moved on to my body soap.

I turn off the water and reached for the towel that I grabbed earlier. I wrap it around myself and step out of the shower. I turn to the sink and brush my teeth. When I finished I grabbed my dirty clothes and made my way towards the door, but stopped when I glance at the mirror above the sink. I was at an angle were I was able to see my assassin guild mark. It was right between my shoulders blades no bigger than a 2x3 rectangle.

The mark had a sword and a side profile of a shield. Wrapping around the sword was a dragon. One of it's front claws was grabbing the shield and the other claw was clawing at the handle of the sword. The head of the dragon was above the sword, growling, while the body of the dragon was wrapped around the sword.

I briefly glare at the mark then I leave the bathroom. I head back to my room to get ready for my day. I walked of my room and headed to the room across the hall. I opened the door and I was met with a knife aimed at my head. I hit the floor before it hit me square in the forehead.

"You, know," I say as I got up from my crouched position on the ground, "If you end up killing me who is going to teach you the fine art of blacksmithing?" I ask looking at Tsubaki.

"I'm not trying to kill you, I'm just practicing my aim...while still half asleep.."Tsubaki trails off. Tsubaki was sitting up in her bed. I watch as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then she looked at me.

"So what is the game plan for today?" Tsubaki asks me as she drags herself out of bed and heads over to her closet. I watch her from the doorway.

"Tell ya when your done with your shower, I'll get breakfast started." I say as I leave to head to the kitchen.

I moved around the kitchen and got things out to make a simple breakfast. I never cooked anything fancy I didn't see the point to and I didn't have any reason too since for the longest time it has been just me in the house. Up until Tsubaki came into my life two short years ago.

I heard Tsubaki's footsteps coming down the hallway towards the kitchen. I flipped the eggs as she walked through the doorway. We didn't say as Tsubaki got the plates and silverware out of their respectable places.

When everything was finished and we were halfway through our meal that was when conversation started for the two of us. I was drinking my coffee when Tsubaki started to talk.

"So what is the game plan for today? Wait...don't you have an assassination to do tonight?" Tsubaki asked looking up at me. I place my cup down and looked at my cup.

"Well we need to head to the shop and gather up the weapons that will be displayed at the expo then head over to the Raising Sun Restaurant and Casino to set up my display and I need to set up my 'trap' for my assassination that I need to pull off tonight. Gah..." I say while leaning my head in my hand that was propped up by the table.

"That's a lot to do before the Casino opens in like..." Tsubaki pauses while she looks at the clock on the wall. "...four hours give or take...you think we can get everything done?" Tsubaki says.

We get up from the table and wash our dishes. Then we gather our things for the day. I made sure to grab my wire that I was going to need for my assignment.

We walk out of the house, and was meet with the every so welcoming blanket of night. The coolness that came with the time and the calmness was welcoming as was its eeriness I place a hand on top of one of my blades. I heard a little yawn escape from Tsubaki.

"Little tired..eh?" I ask as I glance down at her. Tsubaki looks up at me and nods her head.

"I'm not use to being up this early in the morning. Or I'm just not use to having so little sleep." Tsubaki replies as we continue on our walk to town.

"Sad to say but I'm use to it. I've adjusted to it so long ago that its not a problem for me anymore. It actually feels weird, when I get more than six hours of sleep in one setting." I say.

"But I'm not use to getting up at 2am to be anywhere! And when does this expo start again?" Tsubaki asks.

"It starts at 6 and when we left it was close to 3 in the morning so we have to pick up the pace if we want to get everything set up." I say.

We picked up the pace until we turned it into a race. I was the first one to reach my weapons shop first, but Tsubaki was close behind me. Tsubaki placed her hands on her knees panting. While Tsubaki was catching her breath I was unlocking the door.

I walked inside and smiled a little. This was one of my favorite places aside my forge. I was able to be myself when I was working in my store. I didn't have to worry about putting on a mask to hid my hatred and misery here. I was completely myself.

I glance around the room checking to make sure everything was in order. Even though there wasn't a lot in my shop, since I haven't made anything new within the past two years and everything that was out here was either made by my grandmother or what I made when I was younger that I haven't sold yet. On my left I had various types of weapons, ranging from battle axes, to nun chucks. On the opposite wall were various types of swords. I had one whole wall dedicated to swords. Some of the blades were made by my Grandma, but most of them where the ones that I made. I didn't sell many swords that weren't made by my Grandma and me. I turned to the display case closest to the back, this held little blades like daggers and other small weapons that someone could easily walk off with. Next to the display case was were my cash register was. I turned to look above my display case, and smiled. Above the display case hanging on the wall was my Grandmothers personal sword.

I walked over to the counter and pulled a sheet of paper out of the drawer and a marker. I quickly wrote a note and walked back to the door. By now Tsubaki was already inside the shop. I placed the note in the window of my shop, telling any customers to come back tomorrow and that I was at the islands blacksmith expo. And if they really needed to get ahold of me that they could find me there.

"Ok Tsubaki lets get to work gathering the selected weapons for the expo." I say smiling.

"Kay!"

* * *

><p>I took a step back and looked at my display board and nodded my head in approval. I took a few more steps back to see what it would look like from a distance. With my display 'wall' being on the outskirts of the expo my display wall was closer to the massive restaurant dinning seating. I was taking full advantage of making it look nice to attract people who may or may not be interested in blacksmithing. A little self advertisement never hurt anybody. The way I set up my display wall, was the side that faced the dinning tables was all of my Grandmother's work which was more elegant looking than mine and on the other side was all of my work.<p>

I started to replace the 'DON'T CROSS" rope back around my display wall when I heard heavy footsteps making their way towards me, but I stayed focus on my task.

"Hello Miss Yuma," Came a deep gruff voice, behind me. I placed my last rope marker down and turned to the man.

I smile nicely at the man, "Well hello Mr. Tenpi," I say politely. Mr. Tenpi, was a business man, and looked the part to boot. He was short standing about 5 feet 5 inches, with short black hair and a black three piece suit. Mr. Tenpi was also the owner of the Casino and the Amusement park that surrounded the casino.

"It looks like your display is all set for the expo starting in less than thirty minutes." Mr. Tenpi states while looking at my display wall.

I drop the smile, and placed my hands on my hips. "Yep, just finished it up, by the way did you didn't forget our agreement about having my Grandmother's works on display this year?" I ask, questioning the man. I didn't fully trust the man, but I respected him enough to keep his end of the deal.

Mr. Tenpi turned and looked at me. "Of course, it's such a simple request that it's hard to refuse. I've always enjoyed looking at your Grandmother's works, and still do. Her style of weaponry is simply elegant." He says while looking at me.

I smirk at his response. "That's reassuring, and I agree my Grandmother's work is very elegant." I say. I watch as Mr. Tenpi starts to move away from my display, then he turns around.

"Well Miss Yuma I better be going you have to prepare for the expo and I have other displays to look at before we open. Goodbye and expect me to stop by a little while later." Mr. Tenpi says while he offers his hand. I take the offered hand and give him a firm shake. "Goodbye Mr. Tenpi and I look forward to you stopping by again." I say giving him my farewell.

I turn to give my display one final look over before I went to get ready for the expo.

* * *

><p>We walked through the gates of the amusement park, and we split into two groups. Luffy, Ussop, Chopper, Franky and Brook went off to have some fun in the amusement park. While the girls, the ero-cook where heading to the Casino and I was about to go off on my own...<p>

"Zoro, you're coming with us." Nami's demanding voice claimed. I turned to look at the carrot top and glared at her.

"Why should I? You're not the boss of me woman." I growl at her. Nami gave me a mean look.

"Enough you two." Karri says stepping in between the two of us. "Nami calm down and Zoro there is a blacksmith expo going on in the Casino. You can go and look at all the different blacksmiths that Shadow Isles has to offer and you can see if you can get one of them to fix Kitetsu. But I still recommend that you go to Yuma Weapons." Karri says as she tried to play mediator.

_Blacksmith expo..._

"Fine I'll go and check it out for a bit." I say and follow them all the way to the casino. When we walked into the Casino/Restaurant the place, we were stopped at the door. Karri and the man did a quick exchange of words.

"So I was able to get us a seat, in the room that the expo is being held in." Karri says as a person who worked at the casino came to show us where our seat was.

"I'm going to look at the expo." I say breaking off from the group and making my way towards the different displays.

"Don't get lost, moss head." Sanji called out. I ignored the cook and moved to the expo.

* * *

><p>I walked around the expo for a while, I saw various blacksmiths who specialize with weapons but none of them seemed to catch my eye. And the ones that did, were either just people filling in for the blacksmiths since they couldn't be there and when the blacksmiths were there, they wouldn't touch Kitetsu since it was a curse sword.<p>

Somehow I manage to move away from the weapon displays and was in a different section of blacksmithing. I was walking on the outskirts of the expo near the dinning seating to find the others when an out of place display caught my attention. I walked up to the weapon display.

_I like the work.._

"You seem to like the works. They were made by Yuma Tsuki. " I turned to face the voice, and saw a girl standing next to me. The girl was slightly looking up at me, through her dirty blonde bangs. I looked down at the girl, "Yeah, the display caught my attention since its not with the other weapon displays." I say turning to look back at the different swords that were on display.

_So this is the work of the blacksmith that Karri mentioned..._

"That was done on purpose, it draws attention to the display."

"Is that so"

From the corner of my eye I see her turn to face me. "So swordsman what brought you to the expo?" The girl asks, her purple eyes had a slight curiosity to them.

"Some of my shipmates wanted to go to the Amusement park and the rest wanted to go and see the expo. And I just got dragged along," I say, "So you know a lot about the weapons that Yuma Tsuki makes?" I ask.

* * *

><p>I placed my elbows on the table and laced my figures together, followed by placing my head on my hands. I was having a hard time hiding my smirk on my face.<p>

Watching the scene unfold before me. It was quite entertaining. In front of me was Zoro who was talking to a girl who I knew was two years older than me. She was wearing a deep purple chinese style dress that had a split that went right up to her mid thigh. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled up in a very simple style, she also had a few strand hanging out to help frame her face. And from what I could see she also had a butterfly hair clip pinned in her hair.

"Interesting..." came a calm, and cool voice to my left. I glance at the only other person at the table, Robin. Nami and Sanji went to check out the expo, some time ago.

"What's interesting Robin?" I asked lifting my head from my hands but judging where her gaze was landing I already know what she was referring to.

"It seems that our swordsman has found someone very interesting to talk too. This is the longest I've ever seen him talk to someone before." Robin stats as she watched them some more.

I turn my gaze back to the two in front of us. This time I didn't hid my smirk on my face and I let out a slight giggle. This caused Robin to turn her attention to me.

"I'm taking it that you know who the woman is that, Zoro is talking too?" Robin asks.

I smile at her. "Yes, I do, she's a very good friend of mine." I say. We turn back to the duo and notice that the girl was pointing to one of the weapons, probably telling the story behind the weapon.

We were silent for a few minutes. "I wonder if Zoro, knows that's the blacksmith that he needs to talk to, to get Kitetsu fixed?" I ask casually.

"So she is your friend Yuma. You've been very discrete in telling us your blacksmiths gender when we were on the ship. Care to explain?" Robin asks.

I laugh a little at this. "Yes that is Yuma. When people think blacksmith they think, oh male. If I told someone that the blacksmith at Yuma Weapons was female they wouldn't go to her shop because she is a girl. Yuma gets a lot of grief for being a female blacksmith and many people still think that blacksmithing is a males only job." I explain.

"I see." Robin says in understanding. After a few more minutes of watching people pass, I slid to the end of the round booth to get out.

"I'll be back in a few, Robin." I say as I walk away from the table and leave.

_I need to tell Nikki...about that mission..._

* * *

><p>I couldn't help the smile on my face. The person I was currently talking to, sure knew how to hold a decent conversation. I had to admit this was the longest conversation I had on blacksmithing and swords before. Most people who came to my display, didn't know much and just thought that they were pretty to look at. They never seemed to know what exactly they were looking at.<p>

Our confrontation started off, on Yuma Tsuki's weapons and her style of forging. I told him that Tsuki was known for her crucifix style and how every weapon look elegant but also deadly. Then our confrontation gradually went into blacksmithing in general and now it was on various types of swords and sword styles.

I knew who I was talking to. It wasn't that hard to figure out, the green hair, and three swords strapped to his right side, it was Roronoa Zoro. The Pirate Hunter. But I didn't really care, I was having a really nice time.

_Speaking of time.._

"What time is it?" I asked, while trying to find a clock. Zoro paused and seemed to blink in realization and he also started to look for a clock.

"I don't know. Wasn't paying attention to the time. You need to go somewhere?" Zoro asks me while helping me find a clock.

I glance at him. "Yeah, I have to meet someone for dinner on the second floor at eight." I tell him. I finally spot a clock on the wall and mentally growl at the time.

_Great its 7:45pm...only 15 minutes until the job starts...And I was having just a nice time talking to Zoro too..._

I sigh and turn to Zoro. I smile slightly at him. "Sorry but I have to leave.," I tell him, "It was nice talking to you, swordsman." I tell him.

"Yeah, you too..." He says as I walk away. "Cya 'round swordsman" I call over my shoulder as I made my way towards the stairs that lead up towards the second floor.

I was making my way up the stairs when I saw a familiar face coming down the stairs. "Well this certainty is a nice surprise. Never expected to see you here Karri." I comment.

"Not really, the real surprise is that you actually maintain a conversation longer than ten minutes, Nikki." Karri commented back at me. We passed each other on the stairs,

"The CD's are the clients" I heard Karri whisper in my ear as she past. A dark look came over my eyes.

_Those basters...they want me to do their dirty work!_

I walked past everyone once I got up to the second flood dinning. I glance down at the blacksmith expo and notice that Karri was taking Zoro to see the other side of my display board.I couldn't help but smirk as Zoro took his time looking at _**MY**_ works instead of my grandma's works, which get most of the attention most of the time when at these conventions.

Turning away from spying on Zoro and Karri as they looked at my display board I made my way to my table, for my 'dinner' reservation. Finding the empty table that was reserved for my party. The waiter came and went. Seven minutes have past since I left my display board and Zoro and now I was waiting on Tsubaki to come and tell me that my pray was in place.

I was looking over the balcony, to the expo down below, when I notice movement out of the corner of my eye and it was getting closer to me. I turned most of my gaze away from the expo to the three men that were making their way to my table. The three guys looked like a rowdy bunch, and judging by the flush faces I guess they were drunk or at least buzzed.

"Whats a beauty like you, sitting here all by yourself for?" One of the men asked as they leaned on the table, eyeing me from across the table. I didn't even spar the man a glance. His two buddies came and stood on either side of me. All three of them were grinning at me.

"Nikki!" I heard Tsubaki's childlike voice called from behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see her running towards me, trying not to run into anything as she went. Tsubaki stopped when she notice that the three buzzed guys standing around our table.

The three guys didn't look to happy that Tsubaki intervened. "Hey, sweet cheeks lets bounce this little runt and do something a little more fun than this boring blacksmith expo. I can think of something better to do, than looking at boring worthless weapons." The guy to my left said. I scrunched my nose when I smelled the alcohol on their breath.

"Hum...Nikki who are these jokers?" Tsubaki asks as she walked to the table. The three men glared down at her, but she didn't pay any attention to them since she was looking at me.

I gave her a bored expression. "Just a bunch of dickheads that think I'll leave you here by yourself so they can show me a good time." I say completely unfazed as the three guys glared at me for the name calling. "Oh and here I thought they wanted to get into your pants." Tsubaki said as she tried to get to the seat across from me but the first drunk guy was blocking her way. I glance at the clock and notice that if I didn't do something soon I was going to miss my deadline for this job.

"Okay boys it's time for you to go now. I'm a very busy woman, and I don't have time to play with you right now." I say as I make a shooing motion with my hand to tell them to leave.

"We're not leaving chicka. You're coming with us. And you or the runt can't do anything about it." The last drunk said as the guy from across the table started to walk around it to get to me.

_**...sigh...**_

_When will men learn?_

I looked at Tsubaki before one of the men roughly pulled me from my seat. The people around my table stopped what they were doing to look at the little commotion that the three men were doing.

"Don't those three know that is Yuma Nikki? That they're messing with?" I tried to hid the smirk on my face when I heard one of the women whisper to her party.

"You know that really wasn't called for. I can stand on my own." I say as I pulled my arm out of the guys grasp. "Well then come with us and we wont hurt you or your little friend here." The ring leader said as he pointed to Tsubaki. I flashed Tsubaki a smirk that told her that this wont take long then I turned around so I could face the three men.

"Sorry I don't have the time besides I think you're over estimating your abilities just a bit."

"Bitch your coming with us!" They all but yelled at me, then they moved to _tried_ to grab me. They had the intention to drag me away with them and with the scene they were making, I doubt that even if they did succeed that they would get very far with security.

So instead of them grabbing me, I quickly moved out of the way and was now behind the three men. This confused the three men, allowing me to make my moved. I grabbed two of the guys be the head and smashed their skulls together. I smiled at the dignifying sound that followed once their heads made contact to each other. I knocked their heads together so hard that they passed out, and they had a small trickle of blood running from their heads. I turned to the last guy, who was the one who started this whole thing in the first place. He glance down at his two buddies then back at me. I smirked at him, this made the guy glare at me. He tried to punch me but I caught his fist and tightened my hold on his hand. I was able to feel his knuckles move from the pressure. I gave the guy a wicked smile before I grabbed his hand and threw him over the balcony ledge. I glance over the ledge and notice that they guy landed in the walkway between the 1st floor dinning and the expo. Satisfied that the security was taking care of the men.

I started to turn to head back to my table when I felt eyes on me. I followed the direction that I felt the eyes where coming from to find that Zoro was looking at me, along with Karri. They were sitting with two other women and one other guy. Then I notice the slight smirk on Karri's face and Zoro just raised an eye at me. They must've saw the commotion from where they sat on the other side of the room on the first floor, near my display board. I gave them a quick smirk then went back to my table.

Sitting down at the table I notice that the security came and took the two guys that I knocked unconscious away and Tsubaki had food in front of her. I looked at the clock and notice that I only had about two minutes to eight. "So Tsubaki..." I trail off, since Tsubaki knew what I was asking about.

"He's in place. All that is left is for you to do your thing." Tsubaki says quietly before taking a bit of her food. I nod my head, and reach for my glass of wine. Normally I don't like drinking wine, it was too...how should I say it...refine for my taste. But I would drink it if, it was the only alcohol that was available.

I watched as the clock's minute hand moved to the twelve on the clock as I took a quick sip of my drink.

_I guess it's time..._

With a quick but natural looking flick of my wrist...

The moment the clocks hands reached the twelve slot on the clock the dignifying screams from the next room filled the air. And to the untrained ear, the sound of snapping wire as it rolled up followed.

_Job complete..._


End file.
